Rogues Gallery

If you've strolled past the corner of Robson and Granville lately in downtown Vancouver you've seen this installation of historic photographs entitled "Rogues Gallery Circa 1900".

It is the work of Cameron Andrews and Jessica Bushey who discovered the mug shots among the police records at the City of Vancouver Archives. Each photo tells a hard luck story of prejudice and deprivation.

For example, one of the women pictured is 40-year-old Julia LeBrun. The caption tells us that in 1903 she kept a brothel at 130 Dupont Street (now East Pender at the entrance to Chinatown), which was the city's first red light district. She was arrested during one of the periodic police crackdowns and rather than pay a fine of $35 she took 30 days in the New Westminster jail.

The installation is a wonderful fusion of public history and public art.